House of Delegates - 74th District

Citizen Staff Reports

11/03/11

JOE MORRISSEY, DEMOCRAT
1. Why should residents of your district elect you? I’ve represented parts of Henrico County for four years and in that time I’ve been appointed Minority Whip of the House of Delegates by my colleagues in the Democratic Party. I’m a forceful and effective debater. With me in the House, Eastern Henrico County has a strong voice.

2. What will be your top focus if elected? Automatic restoration of rights, more funding for education in Eastern Henrico County, balancing the state budget and restoring funding to VRS

3. What is the most critical issue: 1) facing your district? 2) facing the state as a whole? How do you propose to address these? Education funding for Eastern Henrico County schools; transportation funding for the state. As a member of the House Education Committee I am a strong advocate for adequate funding for our school systems, particularly in Eastern Henrico County. I intend to reintroduce legislation this year such as gas tax.

4. How will you involve citizens in matters of government? I’ve always made constituent service my number one priority - if there is a neighborhood or civic association meeting I make sure to attend each one. I also make sure that my office maintains constant communication with our constituents about what is going on in the district and in my office. I do this by letters, emails, phone calls, district wide gatherings and social media.

6. What personal or professional clubs or organizations are you a member of? Lions Club of Varina, Cathedral of Sacred Heart, The Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club.

DWAYNE WHITEHEAD, INDEPENDENT
1. Why should residents of your district elect you? The people of the 74th deserve better representation. The current delegate, in 2011, didn’t get a single substantive bill passed. As a pastor, I have a proven record for seeing problems and developing solutions. As a political independent, I have had tremendous success working with both parties to get good people elected and meaningful legislation passed.

2. What will be your top focus if elected? There isn’t any one issue -- the problems feed into each other. The top three interconnected issues would be education, jobs, and the preservation of neighborhoods. Better education leads to a better workforce, which leads to more businesses and higher incomes, which leads to stronger families and better neighborhoods.

3. What is the most critical issue 1) facing your district? 2) facing the state as a whole? How do you propose to address these? Our district includes rural areas of Charles City, suburbs of Henrico, and an urban Richmond neighborhood. Although lumped together by political lines, we face different problems. Charles City is waiting for a library. Eastern Henrico wants a bookstore and a movie theater. Richmond worries about unemployment and crime. There’s no one-stop shopping for a solution here. I’ll need to listen to different concerns and work with local officials in three different localities. I’ll need to draw on some combination of legislative power, local influence, and community leadership to accomplish the tasks important to the people. The biggest worry for the people is unemployment. The biggest worry for the General Assembly is the budget. These issues are intertwined. We need to focus on education. We need to eliminate regulations that unfairly burden the small businesses that create local jobs. We need to overhaul our criminal justice system -- we cannot continue to dump criminals out on the streets, but we can no longer afford to incarcerate so many. We need to work out a system that takes the violent offenders off the street, but allows non-violent offenders an opportunity to make restitution for their crimes, while still fulfilling their responsibilities to their families and society. As a pastor, I’m in favor of people paying tithes to the church in which they participate. As a citizen, I’m in favor of citizens supporting the government services they expect. Strong, working families mean fewer burdens on the state budget.

4. How will you involve citizens in matters of government? My entire adult life has been spent serving people. My door is open. My phone is on. I answer e-mails. I walk the neighborhoods of my community. I attend community meetings. Being a delegate would be no different in theory, only in scope.

5. What’s your favorite way to spend the weekend? Saturdays are for family. With little ones and a teenager, we run all week. Saturday we relax together and, if we’re lucky, welcome our older kids home for a visit. Sundays are for my congregation, followed by a big meal with anybody that wants to share.

6. What personal or professional clubs or organizations are you a member of? A.M.E.N. (Alliance of Ministers Equipping Nations); Character Club; Micah Initiative

7. Additional information: My wife and I have seven children. The second-youngest of twelve children, I graduated from George Wythe High School (‘84). I earned a B.A. from American Baptist College, and a Masters of Divinity from Virginia Union’s School of Theology. I have been the Pastor of World Overcomers in Fulton Hill for nearly twenty years. Basketball is my favorite sport.

The 10th Annual Filipino Festival will be held Aug. 7-8 at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, 8200 Woodman Rd., beginning with opening ceremonies at 5 p.m. Friday and continuing with live entertainment, food and exhibits until 10 p.m. On Saturday the festival will take place from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. with a full schedule of performances featuring traditional Filipino dance, music and song.

Filipino cuisine, including BBQ, pansit, lumpia, adobo, halo-halo, lechon, empanada and leche flan, will be available for purchase. The festival will also feature a children's area, church tours, exhibits, and health screenings. > Read more.

The Children’s Museum of Richmond last week opened its new Short Pump location at Short Pump Town Center, to the delight of children who attended a sneak preview of the location July 10. The new facility, located under the forthcoming LL Bean store (formerly the food court) is 8,500 square feet in size – much larger than CMoR’s former Short Pump location at West Broad Village, which opened in 2010. The new space includes The CarMax Foundation Service Station, the Silver Diner, a grocery store, a performance stage and an art studio, as well as a giant Light Bright Wall. > Read more.

The Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Henrico Police are both presenting community events tomorrow, Aug. 1. The Feria Community Resource Fair at Richmond International Raceway brings together community service providers, embassies/consulates from Latin American countries, government agencies, nonprofit organizations and corporations that impact the Latino community. The Division of Police’s Community Day will feature demonstrations and displays from police, fire, animal protection and sheriff’s office, as well as family activities, food, entertainment and more. Other events this weekend include wine, chess and theatre! For all our top picks this weekend, click here! > Read more.